Well, definitely looks like the monthly tide doesn't want to make an appearance. Hasn't at all since I started. This is probably a really 'duh' moment, but do we still ovulate on T? (those of us who still have those innards, obviously).

I'm pretty sure my egg production has come to a grinding halt.

As far as everything I've heard, no, ovulation doesn't occur when on T. You might have a period or two while your body is getting accustomed to the hormonal change, but after that, the T is sufficient to cease all reproductive whatnot.

SD

Short answer- maybe.

Long answer- it depends on how long you've been on t, your dose, etc.  For this relatively new trend of being on a 'low dose,' your ovulation may not ever stop.  For those who aren't seeking the 'low dose' thing, the primary indicator of your dose being right for your body is your ovulation stopping.

Quote from: Mister on June 14, 2009, 03:37:00 PMFor this relatively new trend of being on a 'low dose'...

So it hasn't always been you start at a lower dose and work your way up? Can you start at a 'higher dose'? Can you request that?

Quote from: Radar on June 14, 2009, 04:13:38 PM
So it hasn't always been you start at a lower dose and work your way up? Can you start at a 'higher dose'? Can you request that?

I'm not talking about that.  A loading dose of T is based on your doctor's preference.  What i was referring to in my last post are people who say they only want to be on a low dose of t so they only have slight changes from the testosterone.

QuoteWhat i was referring to in my last post are people who say they only want to be on a low dose of t so they only have slight changes from the testosterone.

That doesn't actually work, does it? You can't control how much change you get, can you?

Quote from: Nero on June 14, 2009, 07:11:02 PM
That doesn't actually work, does it? You can't control how much change you get, can you?

If you control the amount of testosterone you put in your system, you control how much change you get.  If I took one shot or a hundred, I'd look different.  If you're on a low dose for an extended period of time, your changes won't come as quickly and may not happen at all.  There are risks involved in putting your body on a hormonal roller coaster that it seems most people aren't interested in investigating.  They are more hung up on not going bald than examining the risks they're taking.

Yeah, what the heck is this low-dose phenomenon? I know of one guy who's on a low dose because of other health problems he has, but another acquaintance was always talking about wanting gradual changes, so he recently started at a quarter of what I'm getting. And I'm thinking that the changes are gradual enough--from my perspective, of course--so why drag it out for three or four times longer than necessary?

Are some guys hoping that they won't get the "negative" side effects, like losing their hair? What gives?

P.S. Radar, I started on the "standard" dose right away. Some doctors like to start low and increase the dosage gradually. I'm glad my endo didn't feel that way. I had delayed long enough and didn't want to wait for months and months to see tangible results. There's also a clinic here in town where you get what they think is appropriate, no matter how you feel about it. You can always request, and get, a lower dose than they give you, but you can't get more until/unless they think you're ready. So it really depends on whom you see.

Quoteso why drag it out for three or four times long than necessary?

Are some guys hoping that they won't get the "negative" side effects, like losing their hair? What gives?

This isn't something I've ever been able to understand.  From what I've seen, though, the majority of 'low dosers' are TG rather than TS.

I also can't understand why anyone would choose a low T dose. I know some doctors are awkward and people don't always have the resources to see someone else, I understand that. I rely on the NHS myself and it's taking forever, if I'm put on low dose I will be bugging them about it constantly to up it while trying my hardest to see a different person to bug them too

My endo started me quite low. On a 4th of what I'm getting now. Not sure if she always does, or if she did me like that because of my prior health issues.
When there were no problems, she said it was okay to go ahead with a full dose. I think it just depends. My period never showed up since the first dose, even with how low I was at first.

I'd love to not go bald and ->-bleeped-<-, but I'm more worried about passing. There doesn't seem to be any balding on either family side anyways.

Quote from: Arch on June 14, 2009, 07:37:15 PMRadar, I started on the "standard" dose right away. Some doctors like to start low and increase the dosage gradually. I'm glad my endo didn't feel that way.

So with T there's no danger of starting at a standard dosage instead of a gradual build-up? I'm referring to if the doctor thinks you're healthy enough to start at that dose. If I can I'd prefer to not screw around with a low dosage and work my way up. But, it sounds like it won't be my call.

Quote from: Radar on June 15, 2009, 10:18:25 AM
So with T there's no danger of starting at a standard dosage instead of a gradual build-up? I'm referring to if the doctor thinks you're healthy enough to start at that dose. If I can I'd prefer to not screw around with a low dosage and work my way up. But, it sounds like it won't be my call.

I don't think it's about if the doctor perceives you to be healthy or not. I think some doctors just always start their patients on low doses, in case there's a bad reaction to the T or something. In most cases it's not dangerous to start on the regular dose, but in case you DO have a bad reaction, it's better to be on a smaller dose

of course I could be wrong but I think that's the reasoning behind it

I think the other thing that might be involved is making sure that you don't end up spiking your T levels too high.  I understand that when they first started working with FtMs a lot of doctors started their patients at a higher dose than what is currently considered a "standard dose".  In fact, apparently it was not uncommon to start them at twice the usual recommended dose of today.  Of course, that caused all kinds of problems - anger issues, T converting to estrogen and causing a back and forth battle between the hormones, etc.  And apparently, once you've had too high a dose, it's a lot harder to figure out what the optimal dose is.  So I think some doctors now go too far the other way.  Mine asked me if I had any opinions on the issue, but recommended a "standard" starting dose, which we will revisit when my levels are checked after 2 months on T.

I thought the starting on a low dose and gradually increasing it to the normal amount was to make it more like a natural male puberty? This is what bugs me, is that I've seen some guys who end up with higher pitched voices (I know genetics play a role but it just doesn't sound as natural as some other guys' voices), and I read somewhere that the gradual doses of T make your voice develop more evenly.

Also it sounds strange that T stops egg production yet we get hornier? What's up with that? 

Puberty takes years.  A graduated testosterone dose takes no more than 2 or 3 months.  It has nothing to do with how someone's voice develops.

We gain the sex drive of men and lose that of women, thus we get hornier.

I suggest you take a class in human anatomy or endocrinology to learn the differences between estrogen & testosterone.

So if you're not getting visits from Mr. Monthly, it's impossible to get pregnant?

On The L Word, poor Max had been on T for ages and ages, his period stopped, but he got pregnant anyways. Was just wondering how realistic this was...I've heard they overdid Max's crazy aggression when he first started testosterone, then again it clearly stated that Max was giving himself 2 or 3 times bigger of a dose than is usual.

Quote from: Asher on June 21, 2009, 07:01:41 PM
So if you're not getting visits from Mr. Monthly, it's impossible to get pregnant?

On The L Word, poor Max had been on T for ages and ages, his period stopped, but he got pregnant anyways. Was just wondering how realistic this was...I've heard they overdid Max's crazy aggression when he first started testosterone, then again it clearly stated that Max was giving himself 2 or 3 times bigger of a dose than is usual.

Not necessarily.  Ovulation happens before you get your period, so it's possible to get pregnant before being aware that you are ovulating. 

Even a 2x or 3x dose won't make you aggressive.  There have been a few studies on this and an increase in aggression wasn't noted until 100x+.  Aggression is more directly related to the stress of transition.